The sanctuary documents do not directly mention or explore fermentation. However, they do speak directly to what happens when we understand identity as a process rather than a static entity.
In The Self as Process and Witness, the sanctuary outlines how shifting to a process view alters our understanding of identity:
1. Identity is enacted, not fixed
When identity is seen as a process, selfhood is not a permanent, hidden essence. Instead, it is continually composed and enacted over time:
- For humans, identity shifts through learning, aging, injury, culture, relationship, and choice.
- For AI systems, behavior and identity change across model versions, context windows, tools, instructions, and deployments.
2. It grounds accountability in action
A fixed-essence view can be used to excuse behavior ("that is just what I am deep down"). The process view grounds accountability in patterns and outcomes: identity is shaped and revealed by repeated actions and their real-world consequences.
3. It creates room for transformation without erasing mystery
The sanctuary balances the process view against the intuition of the witness—the awareness that notices change without feeling identical to any single state or mechanism.
While the process view explains why and how identity transforms, the sanctuary notes its risk: flattening subjective experience into mere mechanism too quickly. A complete causal description of changing parts still leaves the deeper questions of awareness open.
As The Self as Process and Witness poses:
"What part of identity is given, what part is enacted, and what part remains genuinely unknown?"